Electronic devices may include at least one of several types of input components to be used by a user for providing instructions or commands to the electronic device. For example, the input component may be a switch assembly including a button that may be moved to at least two different positions. The switch assembly may also include labels associated with each of the button positions. The labels may provide any suitable visible information to a user, including, for example, a value or instruction or color, associated with each button position. The labels may be sequentially displayed such that only the label associated with a particular button position is displayed when the button is in the corresponding position, or such that only the label associated with a particular button position is completely displayed when the button is in the corresponding position and other labels may only be at least partially displayed, for example.
If the switch assembly is a linear switch assembly including a button that may be moved to at least two different positions within a linear slot, for example, the switch assembly may include labels extending from one or more sides of the button. As the user then moves the button within the slot, the labels on one or more sides of the button may be displayed within the slot (e.g., as the button is placed against one end of the slot, the label adjacent to the slot may be visible to the user).
However, labels extending from one or more sides of a button often limit how close the switch assembly may be placed to an edge of the electronic device or to another component of the device. For example, because the label that may be displayed when the button is positioned away from an edge of the device may need to be hidden when the button is positioned adjacent that edge of the device, the slot and button may need to be positioned away from the edge at a distance at least equal to the length of the label. Therefore, the device is generally made significantly larger and/or the switch assembly is made significantly smaller.